An accident at work is serious business to the person who gets injured but also for the company where it occurs. After any compensation claim, regulatory authorities may come in and inspect a business for safety concerns and issue fines if deemed necessary. Also insurance rates for employers can rise given how many claims they may have. Many employers are proactive in reducing workplace injuries thereby lowering worker compensation claims by using education and their own investigation systems to assess work areas to make them safer for their employees. Some of the ways employers do this are:
Examining ergonomics of work areas and workstations.
They study places in which repetitive tasks are involved and consult ergonomic experts as to how to reduce bodily stresses in these workstations. In some cases repetitive tasks are not able to be avoided so reducing the stress is the only option and also requiring breaks or a rotation of workers so they are at the task a minimal time as to not over strain the employee.
Modifications to fit the employee.
If a worktable is set at a standard height but the employee assigned to that worktable is much taller or much shorter than most others in that position, employers can work on adjusting that task specifically to that person. This may involve adding a platform to stand on or adding an adjustable table.
Safety training.
Employers should hold regular meetings to make their employees aware of workplace dangers, how to avoid injuries and how to report unsafe working conditions or unsafe acts in order to reduce occurrence of accidents. All employers should encourage this as not every unsafe situation is able to be thought of immediately and often comes about when someone is doing something out of the norm. If you do end up having a workplace injury it is important to report it immediately.
This is for yourself as much as it is for your employer. Your employer should have you fill out an incident report right after the occurrence or as soon after as possible.